I thought I had a great idea. My bike tires were low—not dangerously so, but still in need of air. I have an air pump for my bike, but I was struggling to get an accurate reading of the tire pressure. This left me feeling like I was just pumping air willy nilly.
“I’ll bike to Costco,” I thought. They have an air pump for car tires, and I knew it was reliable for measuring tire pressure. I checked online beforehand, and it seemed compatible. When I arrived, everything fit just fine.
But it turns out… that was a bad move. The Costco air pump blew out my tire.
That sounds more dramatic than it was. It wasn’t an explosion, but there is now a hole.
So… now what? I didn’t have a car, and I couldn’t ride my bike home. I have plenty of friends who could have picked me up, but I wasn’t sure any of them could fit my bike in their car. I was just about to try to arrange an Uber, realizing I’d need a vehicle large enough to take both me and my bike.
Then, someone overheard my predicament. He’s a young graduate student, and he suddenly said, “Can I take you home? I have space.” Sure enough, he had an SUV with the back seats already down. It was such a kind offer!
I also noticed a logo on the back of his SUV, and it turned out we shared connections to two towns. He had also lived in Texas, where I did previously. We had the nicest chat on the way home.
Next up: a purchase of new tires. It was already time for them, and now… it’s necessary.
But I’ve also been thinking about this, too. Every day, we’re bombarded with a news cycle where we constantly hear about people being awful. Yet there are still some truly great humans in the world. I’m glad to spotlight one of them.
— Renee Roederer
Smuggling Grace 